May 6, 2015

The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources on Monday
unanimously approved proposed legislation by San Bernardino County Supervisor
Robert Lovingood that would allow renewable energy projects to be built on
mining sites where the land has already been disturbed.

“This is just one more component putting renewable power
where it belongs,” Lovingood said in a telephone interview Monday. “It’s one of
the many components that will ensure responsible development benefitting
constituents, the power suppliers and also keep us meeting the goals given to
us by both state and local government on renewable energy projects.”

The proposed legislation, should it become law, would remove
regulatory hurdles that complicate the development of renewable energy projects
at mining sites. In San Bernardino County, it would free up a total of 12,000
acres of disturbed land at 104 mines for renewable energy development.

The way it stands now, proposed renewable energy projects at
mining locations are subject to a stringent permit and review process under the
Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, Lovingood said.

The proposed legislation comes at a time when state and
federal officials are planning implementation of a comprehensive renewable
energy conservation plan encompassing 22.5 million acres across seven
California counties. More than half that acreage is in San Bernardino County,
the largest county in the continental United States.

In February, the county submitted a 56-page position paper to a task force detailing its concerns
regarding the plan, recommending, among other things, that the task force
further analyze the potential impacts of renewable energy projects to mining
operations and recreation areas in the High Desert. The task force is composed
of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
California Energy Commission and the California Department of Fish and Game.

The county now has $5 billion in planned or completed solar
energy projects on its books. Don Holland, Lovingood’s policy adviser, said in
an e-mail Monday that solar and wind renewable energy projects at active mining
sites could dramatically reduce electricity costs and provide an incentive to
continue doing business in California instead of moving elsewhere.

The average mining job pays more than $80,000 a year, and
each mining job creates an additional three to four support jobs, Holland said.

In a statement Monday, Obernolte said that while San
Bernardino County is an attractive location for renewable energy development,
many residents in his district are frustrated with the number of large-scale
projects proposed near their homes. He said AB 1034 helps alleviate some of
that concern.

“Not only will this preserve undisturbed lands for other
uses, it will also help the state meet its renewable energy goals of generating
33 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020,” Obernolte said.